Star Trek Strategic Operations Simulator: Misc Information

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From TI 99/4A Videogame House:

The Manual for Star Trek, that was released by Texas Instruments, actually has the picture flipped around. If you look at it, the laser beam being shot at the USS Enterprise is coming from the right hand side of the manual, in all other versions of the game it comes from the left (such as in the Atari 5200 version). If one looks more closely at the manual, you will be able to see that it is not just the laser coming from the opposite side, but the entire picture that is flipped around! As to why this happened, I don't know. Maybe TI thought the picture looked better this way? It is interesting to note that the TI-99/4A 2Q/1983 3rd Party Sega version of this game has a manual with the picture in the correct position, so it was obviously something TI altered for their release of the game which came out a few months later.

From skooldays.com.

Billed as a “Strategic Weapons Simulator,” Sega’s Star Trek gave Trekkies, Trekkers and assorted Trek-heads the chance to take the bridge of the famed U.S.S. Enterprise. Delivering to players full control of the ship’s Phasers, Photon Torpedoes, Impulse Power and Warp Drive, Star Trek took would-be James T. Kirks on 40 missions of Klingon-blasting strategy and action.

The game’s color vector graphics display gave a first-person look through the ship’s viewscreen, along with a long-range scanner and a display of remaining shields, warp capability and photon torpedoes. Using the paddle control and several buttons, Starfleet captains-in-training patrolled their sectors, defending star bases from invading Klingon Birds of Prey.

Using slower Impulse Power or your limited Warp Drive, you sped the Enterprise toward your foes, blasting away with Phasers or more powerful (but again limited) Photon Torpedoes. Once a sector was cleared, a voice announced, “Damage repaired, sir,” and the refreshed Enterprise moved boldly on to its next mission.

The arcade Star Trek debuted soon after the highly successful Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan hit theaters, and the game was announced and advertised with all the fanfare of a major motion picture. Paramount (owners of the Star Trek TV and film franchise) teamed up with Sega for major promotions, bringing in series stars like George “Sulu” Takei to mingle with fans at select arcades around the country. The strategy helped turn Star Trek into an arcade hit, but the game was overshadowed in the long run by another vector graphics adaptation of a major sci-fi franchise, Atari’s Star Wars.

From the Sega/Gremlin X-Y FAQ:

Star Trek came in an upright Convert-a-cabinet, dedicated cockpit version, dedicated upright, and was also available as a Sega X-Y Convert-a-Game kit, which was popular for Asteroids cabinets. There is a switch setting for two sets of controls, so it may be possible to play out of a cocktail, but I've never seen one.

If you have a Star Trek board cage which has an edge connector instead of the mate-n-lock harness, that means you have a Star Trek Kit cage. A mapping finger board was supplied for game conversion (instead of the kit containing a harness with about 6 miscellanous mate-n-lock connectors like the real converta-cabinet has).

Star Trek was a popular Asteroids conversion. Replace the vector monitor and insert a finger board and re-wire the control panel, and most of the existing Asteroids harness could be re-used. However, the edge card connection pinouts for Star Trek kits doesn't match any game (as far as I can tell), so a mapping finger board was required for the Star Trek conversion kits.

If you have a Star Trek cage where the harness goes right to mate-n-lock connectors that are mounted on the cage itself, then you've got one out of a Star Trek cockpit.

The screen consists of 3 sections: 1) a display for score, available shields, photons, and warp time, 2) a radar view of your ship, surrounding enemies and star bases, and 3) a cockpit view from your ship; sort of like Battlezone in outer space. The object of the game is to defeat the enemies in the sector. There are star bases which you can dock with to get more shields, photons, and warp time. There are bonus rounds which you must survive where NOMAD places mines, and you must successfully navigate through the mine field them and attempt to destroy NOMAD.

Of all games manuals, Star Trek's manual is probably the most helpful when it comes to explaining the Sega X-Y G-80 system. It also has a good deal of monitor information, and explains the theory of the G-80 system in detail. Of all the Sega X-Y manuals, try to get a copy of this one.

From Arcade History:

Before the game play begins, Scotty says "You are the Captain of the Starship Enterprise." followed by the Star Trek theme and then Mr. Spock saying "Welcome aboard, Captain.". Afterwards when the game play begins, you are plunged into space to battle the fierce Klingons. Your job is to defend the Starbases from Klingon attacks, and successfully pilot the U.S.S. Enterprise through more and more difficult and hostile sectors of the galaxy. The screen is divided into three parts with the upper left-hand portion containing a supplies readout, so at a glance you can see how many shields, photon torpedoes and the amount of warp power you have left. The upper right-hand board is the main scanner screen that provides a bird's eye view of the Enterprise, enemy positions and the location of the Starbases. Below is the Forward Targeting Scanner, which shows off a striking vector graphic of the aliens that you battle or the Starbases that you dock with from a first person perspective.

There are five controls which need to be mastered, including a Tempest-like rotary knob for directing the course of the ship, a Phasers button which shoots limited range phasers, an Impulse button for forward motion at slow speed, a Photon Torpedo button that fires torpedoes capable of wiping out large portions of the galaxy and a Warp button that allows forward motion at super speed. The Photon Torpedo and Warp buttons are placed at an awkward position which may take some time to get used to. The game play involves a simulation of the powers and perils of piloting the Enterprise against The Klingon Empire.

You have only one ship to command. If it is destroyed, the game is over. At the beginning of the game, you are given a certain number of shields and photons and during the game play, you can gain additional shields, photons, and warp power by docking with a Starbase. When your ship is hit, you lose a shield. If you run out of shields, the next hits will take out your photon torpedos, and next your warp power, and finally your ship, thus completing the simulation.

There are six different enemies, including red, purple, and white Klingon ships, blue anti-matter saucers and the tricky yellow Nomad during special rounds, which plants dangerous space mines.

The game has 40 different simulation levels, all of where you pilot the Enterprise and try your best to destroy all enemies to protect the Starbases throughout the galaxy.